The Value of Food Markets

Dish of the Week- Thai Prawn Noodle Salad

Hey, 

Living in the city and/or leading a hectic life in general it is easy to get used to shopping food in big supermarkets that offers easy solutions to making food quick and easy. This is especially true during weekdays when you are tight for time, and just want something to ease the hunger after a long commute home from work. More the reason why I treasure my weekends, as I have both the time and the energy to source and cook fresh food.

Yesterday we headed to the Village Market at the Entertainment Quarter (EQ) in Sydney to get some fresh produce for the dish that I would like to share with you today- a Thai Prawn Noodle Salad. I love going to food markets as they are great places for trying out new things, and the EQ Market offers a wide range of food including fresh vegetables, eggs, meat, cheese, olives and French pastries to name a few. My husband loves the little stall there that sell Chorizo rolls, and was camped there for most of the time whilst I went an had a look at the wide range of food on offer.

As I was walking between the different stalls talking to people selling their produce, and discussing food and what goes well with what, I couldn't help but think back to the times when I found food markets a bit daunting...When I first arrived in Australia I found the markets, and even the local fruit and vegetable grocer, a bit intimidating as the staff were always so friendly and chatty. It is not to say that Norwegians aren't friendly we are just a bit more reserved with people we don't know. 


But now I really enjoy it, and yesterday was no exception! I stopped at the Cheese Room and had an interesting discussion with one of the ladies working there, and got to taste some great different styles of French and Italian cheeses. I learn a lot from discussing food with people who are passionate about their produce and always ask a million questions. I ended up buying an Italian goat cheese and Calabrese Salame which we had with sourdough bread as an afternoon snack yesterday...yum!!

THAI PRAWN NOODLE SALAD

The dish that I would like to share with you today I found on the website for the ABC program called 'Poh's Kitchen'. Poh, the female host of the show, became famous down here after being part of the first season of MasterChef in Australia. She was one of my favorites on the show as she just showed such enthusiasm for cooking, but also was a bit of daredevil that constantly sought to mix new and exciting flavors. With her artistic background she is also great at executing the esthetic's of the dishes and plated up some amazing food on the show.


In a lot of ways- Poh as a person and Poh as a cook- is a symbol of Modern Australia for me with her background as a fifth generation Chineses-Malaysian that immigrated to Australia when she was young. Her food show is about trying out different styles of food whilst also staying true to her heritage, and each episode a guest chef is cooking alongside her. The Thai Prawn Noodle Salad was made by the ABC cooking show presenter Ian Permeter


Ingredients:

• 600g prawn flesh
• Salad
• 2 cups strips of peeled cucumber
• 1 cup basil leaves (Thai basil if you can get)
• 1 cup coriander leaves
• 3 tbs spring onions, white part, chopped
• 2 tbs finely sliced Spanish (red) onion
• 2 cups tomato flesh in strips
• 2 cups cooked rice noodles, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Dressing
• 1 tbs sweet soy sauce
• 1 tbs sweet chilli sauce
• 2 or 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp grated rind of lime (or lemon)
• 1 tbs lime juice (or lemon juice)
• 2 tsp minced ginger (or pickled ginger)
• 2 or 3 tsp palm sugar (or caster sugar)
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp very finely chopped kaffir lime leaves (if you can get)
• ½ tsp white pepper
• Optional Garnish
• Extra spring onion 
• Roasted peanuts (I just used the roasted peanuts as garnish)
• Deep Fried shallots 

METHOD
As this is a very easy dish to make, I won't go in to too many details, other than that you cook the prawns on high heat in a frying pan or on the BBQ with a little bit of sesame oil and olive oil. If you have the ingredients or would like to try it out, you can add a little bit of brandy and grated palm sugar as well to caramelise the prawns. 

1. 1. Start with cutting the salad ingredients and mixing them.
2. 2. Add the dressing ingredients- taste and adjust the flavor to your liking.
3. 3. Position the prawns on the top of the salad.
4. 4. When serving the dish sprinkle with with spring onions, peanuts and shallots.

The dressing on this dish is simply to die for, it has quite a tang to it due to the mix of different sauces and herbs. The use of palm sugar on the prawns balanced out some of the acidity from the oil and added a little bit of sweet taste to them, although not mandatory to the dish I would recommend using it if you can easily source it from your local grocer or Asian supermarket. 

I served this dish with a glass of dry white wine, I sometimes find it challenging to find wines to go with Asian food, and it also comes down to individual taste and preferences. Since the dish had a lot of different flavors in it we decided to try out a Chardonnay from Adelaide Hills called Nepenthe- Ithacha 2006, which is a wine that although not too expensive (AUD 32) has won a lot of awards and acclaim in the James Halliday's Wine Companion. 


I hope you get to enjoy the dish as much as we did! 
Linnemoren